YouTube and Advertising

YouTube has only existed for 6 years, but already I can't image my life without it. Throughout these few years a lot has changed. Recently it started featuring more and more advertisements. Some videos feature 30 seconds before a video and most others have advertisement banners along the bottom and to the right of the video. I think this was a smart advertisement step, but as a viewer I'm slightly annoyed.

I can handle the short commercials before a video, but the banners are just absurd. The block the bottom third of the video and even though you can close them, I almost always miss the X and end up going to the linked website. Even though this is a smart business move and people probably won't stop watching videos because of it, it still brings an added annoyance to many viewers.

Distracting Advertising

Advertisements are all around us. They are unavoidable, but sometimes this comes at a cost. Many people I know, including myself are easily distracted. When I'm on a website I'm constantly moving from page to page and once in a while an ad will catch my eye. One in particle is American Apparel. Whenever I see there eccentric banners, I have an impulse to click. I end up browsing their site for hours. I have never bought anything but that never stops me from looking.

These distractions may seem harmless but new technologies are becoming dangerously distracting. Most recently I have noticed moving billboards. They are screen billboards that change pictures periodically. These types of advertisements are most often seen at sporting events or places like Times Square. They are fine in these locations, but on the highway I find them distracting. When you're driving you should be concentrating on the road, not looking off to a moving advertisement I think they are dangerous and somewhat stupid. Leave the LCD screens for walking/sitting locations only!

Awkward Advertising

I'm not sure if it's the intend of the advertisers, but some ads just make me feel down right awkward. I see them and I want to squirm in my seat or change the channel and QUICK. One such commercial is for Schick Quattro Trim Style (for women). It is a two in one razor, one side for legs, the other for bikini trimming.

In the commercial whenever a girl walks by a shrub, the shrub automatically gets trimmed. If you think about it, this makes for a very inappropriate visual. I understand that kids probably won't get the reference. But I did and it made me uncomfortable. I did not care for it.

Another set of commercials that make me switch channels is Axe body spray/ body wash. They almost always depict women fawning over shirtless guys. It's inappropriate and in my opinion a little sexist. The worst one shows Jaime Lee Pressly taking about balls. I just don't care for these innuendo jokes. Even though the media has come along way, that doesn't mean it has to start getting trashy.

I hope for my TV viewing pleasure, that advertisers stay away from this odd method.

Product Placement

I am not ashamed to admit that I watch a ridiculous amount of television. I am faithful to many series and from being such a frequent viewer, I have discovered that many shows use product placement. I may not be obvious to everyone, but I am quick to notice it now. Sometimes it's a subtle zoom in of an appliance (Top Chef) so that the audience can see the GE logo. Other times it's an awkward comment about how great Subway is (Chuck). I've started to make it a game and seeing how many I can notice in one episode.

The most commonly placed product that I've noticed is Apple products. Most shows I watch include Apple computers or an obvious iPhone lookalike.

In my opinion this is a hit or miss method. I think the costumer has to already have some knowledge about the product to work. Just seeing a brand new logo or something may not encourage them to do anything. It works if the costumer already knows about the product or has gotten it in the past they are then reminded of it. I'm not a professional but I think this method is sometimes effective and sometimes not. Either way I'm still going to continue watching for them lurking in the background.

New Ways to Advertise

As technology changes, our society changes. In order to keep up, advertising as evolved too. Advertising started in news papers, posters, and fliers. It relied solely on print ads. Soon radio and TV were invented and advertisement took a huge leap. They were able to create more direct content, but it also became must more expensive. These type of advertisements are still very prevalent but recently advertising has taken a new step.

Print ads are moving more and more to online. Every website it seems has some type of advertising on the page to help fund it. Many of these things can be quite annoying to users, but it enables these serves to continue to be free. Another huge change is phones. Now even apps and games on phones have ads running on top of them. Or products make their own apps or games to promote there product.

Yet another new way of advertising is using social media. Companies make Facebook groups to get the word out and to interact with their audience. I think this is very effective. A company has to know how to adapt to stay in the game.

One new type of advertising that I'm not too fond of is commercials before movies. I really enjoy going to movies, and I like to see trailers of up coming movies. Now however they started showing real commercials before movies and I feel that they just don't belong. Movie going is an experience that should be separate from watching TV. I get annoyed seeing commercials in this format. When you go to a movie I expect movie type previews not soda or army ads.

Overall ads are changing along with everything else. They need to keep up in order to do their job. Advertising is a changing field.

New Products

When new things appears on the market it's difficult to get the word out. I find out about most new products from commercials or since I work at a grocery I often just see new products there. A recent one that I was intrigued enough about it purchase was MiO liquid water enhancer. I had first heard about it from a commercial that showed how the product works. You just pour in flavoring into your bottle of water. You can add as much or as little as you like. At the time I was with a friend and we started talking about how Piggly Wiggly (our work place) has it. I decided to give it a shot, because it has 0 calories and looked like a good deal. The small bottle it supposed to be good for 25 servings and was only $3.50.

MiO Review: After trying the product, I found it to be convenient and delicious! My only complaint was that the serving size is a little unrealistic, at least for me. I had to pour a lot in order to get enough flavor, so I'm not sure if it will last as long and if this is the case, I don't think it's worth the price.

This product however did do an excellent job at advertising. It made everything about the product fun and worth a shot. I don't regret my purchase at all and I'm glad I tried it.

Humor in Ads

One of the most successful methods of advertisement is using humor. A good example of this can be seen every year at the super bowl. Usually the favorites are the ones that are funny. Old Spice is a company in particular that I think it very good at using humor to their advantage. Last year the introduced the 'Old Spice Guy", Isaiah Mustafa. The commercials are quick, witty, and to the point.

Old Spice always finds a way to use humor and target an audience. Detorderent is a hard thing to sell and it's impressive that they come up with a good idea to do so. Not only are their commercials popular on TV, but they've also become viral hits and many have even spoofed them. I also discovered that in the Summer of 2010. Isaiah made many videos in the style of Old Spice to other celebrities. They were just as funny as the originals and kept the internet community reminded and wanting more.

Celebrities in Ads

Celebrities have always had a huge influence on consumers. Many people want to look like or be like their favorite celebrities and so they will buy anything they promote. In the 2000s, this is especially true. Almost every magazine ad depicts a celebrity using the product shown.

Personally, I think this method is very powerful. As a college student I am persuaded in this way, but money is still a huge factor. So, even though Natalie Portman (my favorite actress) is the new face of Christan Dior, there is still no way I'm buying it.

Another very popular way to use celebrities is with weight loss programs. Every other commercial is a celebrity who has lost over 25 pounds. I find these ads very annoying. Weight loss works differently for everyone and a celebrity is not going to convince me to start with any of these money wasting programs.

Overall I think celebrities have a big say in what people buy, but other factors are often stronger than the image.

Children's Ads

While flipping through channels one day I came across Nickelodeon, one of my favorite channels growing up. Rather than the shows, I was this time drawn in by the ridiculous commercials. They are all loud, bright, and fast paced. They almost always show other children playing with the product while laughing and smiling. I found it pretty funny how they choose to sell to their audience. I realized that I myself fell for these same types of tactics when I was younger.

My favorite example of this is Barbie commercials. They are always bright and happy-go-lucky.

Before I was Born

Advertisements change shape with each coming year. The techniques change, the audience might change, and the image might change. One product who's advertisements have change in the past 20 years would be Camel cigarettes. The ads and packaging used to depict a Camel simply looking "cool". He wore bright shirts, wore sunglasses, and of course smoked. He always looked suave and surrounded by attractive women. This ad clearly wanted the audience to think that smoking makes one look attractive and audacious.

Now the Camel ads have drastically changed. Today it shows just a plain camel in a desert. After cigarettes were found to cause cancer, they could no longer depict their "mascot" as a cartoon because it targeted children with it's fun looking ads. I'd be interested to find out how this affected their sales.

Jingles

Nothing is more annoying than have a commercial jingle stuck in your head. You keep repeating the same short song and pretty soon everyone around you is singing it too. This is a very effective way of advertising, because it gets people to remember your product. One of my favorite jingles is the Band-Aid one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7MtLNK02lI

*view at your own risk.

Public Service Announcements

PSAs are a great way to spread knowledge quickly and efficiently. They bring awareness affecting an issue, public attitudes and potentially having a call to action. They can be on the radio or in the form of a commercial. Some of the most well known PSAs deal with the issue of keeping kids off drugs. I was able to find this article showing the 9 Most Awful (And Awesome) drug PSAs ever made. They are hilarious and ridiculous but still get their point across.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/31/the-9-most-awful-and-awes_n_514991.html#s76273&title=undefined

Local Advertising

One of the things I like most about going to Oshkosh is its feeling of community. It feels as though the whole city embraces the campus and doesn't treat it like a separate entity. I see this most in local advertising. Places around campus are continually targeting college students by giving special deals with their Titan card, handing out fliers with coupons on campus, or having special discounts for students.

My favorite local business in Oshkosh is New Moon Cafe. It is located in downtown Oshkosh making in a short walk away from campus. They always have fliers around announcing their open mic nights and every year they give coupons in the dorm's welcome package. I think they do a very good job of using their targeted demographic to decide how to advertise.

Overall I think local advertising is all about know your audience and learning how to adhere to their interests.

Central Route vs. Peripheral Route

Advertisers have many techniques for making their product appeal to customers. There are two main ideas behind this. One is called central route persuasion. This method is usually applies to logic and help when making a large purchase such as a car. When a customer is making this type of purchase they often do research and get all the facts. They will then choose which one applies to their needs. An example of this for me, is thinking about purchasing and iPhone 4. I look at the ads in detail and I don't get distracted by the music or the commercials production value. I'm also doing a lot of research of what the phone's features are, how much it will cost per month, and if the product is worth the price. This type of persuasion is best when the company provides as much information as possible to appeal to the customer's logic.

The second main form of persuasion is peripheral route. This style involves using emotion and the costumer's other interests to make a sale. An advertiser might use a celebrity that relates to their demographic, music that the costumer likes, an attractive spokes person , or maybe the commercial just made them laugh. These type of ads create spur of the moment purchases and are usually cheaper products. An example of this might be the Skechers commercial staring Kim Kardashian. People who like her, or her body might be very inclined to get those shoes without even caring if they are good shoes or not.

To keep these two techniques straight, I wrote these limericks:

Central route to the noggin makes me avoid all the jargon.

Peripheral route is less thinking so I do much more getting.

Stereotypes in Ads

When one watches as much TV as I do, it's impossibly to avoid the constant advertisements being thrown my way. Usually I don't pay much attention to them, I'll flip the channel, check my facebook, or hit the restroom. I have however noticed that no matter how far we've come in gender equality, there are still ads that can't seem to get around it. I find that most ads for things such as dishwashing soap, cleaning supplies, and kitchen appliance almost always feature women. They are portrayed in the typical woman of the house, apron and all. Men are seen in most beer commercials, and lawn care commercials. It doesn't seem like that big of a deal, but by showing these images we are only instilling these ideas in younger generations. I think it's important for the media to show genders in varies roles because that's how the real world operates. I would even go so far as to have a homosexual couple star in commercials as well. Many people don't realize how powerful advertising is, and that by using these images future generations will learn that these things are perfectly normal. I found this McDonalds commercial from Europe and I can only hope that someday more ads like these will be aired. Gender stereotypes should be a thing of the past.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBuKuA9nHsw